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From: eje@irenaeus.mlo.dec.com (Eric James Ewanco)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Subject: 386bsd: Doesn't use BIOS?
Message-ID: <1992Sep3.194427.14251@engage.pko.dec.com>
Date: 3 Sep 92 19:44:27 GMT
Sender: newsdaemon@engage.pko.dec.com (USENET News Daemon)
Reply-To: ewanco@kalvin.enet.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 27
I saw mentioned in the thread on the Diamond Speedstar 24[X] interface problems
that said that 386bsd does not use BIOS and hence needs the code for the
Speedstar. This struck me as odd; I can understand skipping the BIOS for the
sake of speed on certain devices, but why can't 386bsd use BIOS for proprietary
devices like the Speedstar? Is it an all-or-nothing thing, that is, either we
forgo using BIOS at all or incur horrible disadvantages? I'd like to
understand why exactly 386bsd cannot use the BIOS at all. I guess I could
understand Diamond's hesitance to give us direct access to their hardware,
especially when everyone else probably goes the standard way and uses the BIOS
to access it. (Then again, it is news to me that you could take advantage of
hi-res accelerated boards through the BIOS, but that's another issue.)
Eric
--
/=============================================================================\
| Eric Ewanco - Software Engineer For the rash and outrageous opinions ex-|
| Digital Equipment Corp, Maynard MA pressed herein I alone am responsible; |
| ewanco@kalvin.enet.dec.com they do not belong to DIGITAL(TM). |
\==============================- 2 Th 2:15 -==================================/
"...[T]he greatest and most ancient Church known to all, founded and
organized at Rome by [] Peter and Paul, [is] that Church which has the
tradition and faith which comes down to us after having been announced
to men by the Apostles. For with this Church, because of its superior
origin, all Churches must agree ... and it is in her that the
faithful everywhere have maintained the Apostolic tradition."
-- St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, c. 180 A.D., 3,3,3.